ASD Amatori Rugby Capoterra

1. Juvenile Activities.

The Societa’ Sportiva Amatori Rugby Capoterra (Capoterra Amateur Rugby Sporting Club) was founded in 1972 with the objective of promoting and spreading the game of Rugby.

From the first, the club concentrated on the juvenile sector, where it is important to instil the main principles and ethics of this magnificent sport. However, none of the other age groups was neglected. :The club in fact, after starting with the juvenile element, has always taken care of all levels within the club, demonstrated by the fact that  in their initial season in the National Rugby Championship Serie ‘D’ in 1975, the first team finished in second position in the final classification.

Problems, unfortunately weren’t long in appearing. The club had to stop all activities until 1976, the year which marked the revival of sporting activities and relaunch of the juvenile section of the club, which continues to this day, drawing in many youngsters to take part.

In 1977, the club was among the first in Italy to become a Centre of Sport Guidance, and initiated with CONI (Italian Sports Federation), a collaboration for the promotion of Rugby in Sardegna, which continues up to the present day.  Thanks to this partnership, l’Amatori Rugby Capoterra has, since that time had the possibility of participating in numerous national sporting competitions for boys under 14.

The sporting and educational enrichment that the above initiative has created within the youngsters cannot be described in a few lines: the motto of the club really sums up the essence of Rugby: Scuola di Rugby; Scuola di Vita. (School of Rugby; School of Life!).

Equally the coaches had been able to achieve ever greater preparation of the players, from which in the end came satisfaction due to the results, the participation and the enthusiasm. These fully repaid the ever increasing efforts that the club had made in the juvenile section. A reflection of their achievements is the fact that the juvenile team of Amatori Rugby Capoterra were invited to participate every year between 1978 to 1984 in the International Rugby Tournament in Ajaccio, Corsica.

The juvenile activity was also distinguished in the schools competitions. The Capoterra Middle School team (supported and coached by the Amatori Rugby Capoterra) has participated in the Giochi della Gioventu’(Gioventu’ Games) under the name of “Scuola Media Capoterra” from 1978 and were always placed at the head of the classification. They remember in particular the way that they won the gold medals of 1981 and 1991.

The club organizes annually, for promotional and educational purposes, a Mini Rugby tournament which, by now has achieved a national reputation. It regularly attracts teams from France and diverse Italian regions. The bond created due to this initiative between the club and various participating clubs has resulted in the juvenile team being often invited to various  tournaments throughout the Italian peninsular and France. The more significant ones we could mention are those in Cecchina, Catania and Lyon, which were important occasions for recreation, friendship and cultural and sporting exchange for the youngsters and their accompanying adults, always in the fundamental spirit of the game of rugby: fun and growth together. Since 1980 numerous juvenile teams from the club have participated in the Trofeo Rugby Educativo del Rugby, now called the Trofeo Topolino.

The effectiveness of the large amount of effort put in to the juvenile sector is reflected in the absolute domination of the Under 15 and Under 17 teams in the regional championship from 1984 to the present date. In the national arena, the Under 19 team has obtained excellent results, having participated in the Championship in 1981, 1982 and 1983.

2. Adult Teams.

The first team, as well as playing in the regional championship, has competed in the national ones and has reached, despite perennial financial difficulties, enviable positions in the league table. Since 1984, the club has at the head of the national league C2. In 1990 the club achieved promotion to league C1, in which they competed until 1993. Contemporaneous with the national activities of Capoterra Amateur Rugby, in this period a second team was created which kept the name of  the club on high in Serie C2: The Capoterra Lions.

For some years in this region there have been female rugby teams. Notwithstanding the difficulties which have been encountered, above all in disabusing the perception that sees rugby as a violent male sport, the ladies team today is succeeding in taking the first steps to participating with enthusiasm in the first tournament.  It is worth mentioning that a ladies team finished in 2nd place in 1995 at the Rugby Chicken Tournament in Milan.

During the holiday season, the rugby activities at the club don’t stop: At the Lido di  Capoterra at La Maddelena Spiaggia (Maddalena Beach) the club has organized, for 15 years so far, a beach rugby tournament, Il Memorial “Gianni Mura” , dedicated to a founder as well as a player of the Capoterra AmateurRugby Club at its inception. 

 Yet in the noble ethics of the sport of rugby, the result doesn’t count when the participation and enthusiasm and widespread interest that is growing around this sport. In addition to the various tournaments the club has organized, it has always promoted and supported cultural activities such as local arts and crafts shows, photographic expositions, conventions and initiatives of social significance, but most of all success in establishing a genuine sports administration system.

The most important recognition given to the club was the C.I.A.R. Prize (Club Italia Amatori Rugby). This was awarded to the club in 1996. This is regarded as prestigious annual recognition which is awarded mainly to clubs which have performed highly significant activities and is usually reserved for the more famous clubs, whose teams play in Serie “A”. This award was merited by the club for its revolutionary work in the year previous and was a spur and a stimulus for all associated with the club, including the staff and workers, to work harder to improve the growth in the sporting and cultural fields.

In more recent times, in 1999, following the victorious campaign in Serie C2, and the important result obtained against the Calabria team at the playoff game in Rome, the team was promoted again into Serie C1. Then, after one year playing in the Lazio girone and two in the Lombardia girone of Serie C1, in 2003 the club failed to overcome the problems of a difficult phase which was opening in its history.

But in truth these difficulties gave birth to a revolution: a spirit of self denial, pride and passion pushed by a new management, the current one: from 2004 it took the club in hand, taking it rapidly back again to its historical high level, but with a modern, revamped efficient organization and development of local coaching staff. Having just been reactivated, the club achieved second position in the 2004 / 2005 championship. In the following year, 2006, the team played well enough to reach the playoffs for promotion to Serie B, but was not sufficiently mature as a team to take the final hurdle. Facing a superbly organized team from Venice it was necessary to recognize that at that time the target for which they aimed was only a dream. However only for another year, as they achieved promotion to Serie B.at the end of the 2007 season.

This promotion, fully deserved, launched a new and stimulating challenge to the club and its players. With players arriving from Italy and foreign countries,  the club completed its reorganization and increased its coaching staff.

Serie B is a reality and not to be feared. Capoterra Amateur Rugby Football Club continue to be among the leading stars in the history of rugby in Sardinia.